Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The coalition is promising changes to special licensing rules to make it easier for organisers to run events.
Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee outlined the reforms at the New Zealand Events Association's annual conference on Tuesday.
They build on last week's alcohol law changes that made it simpler for ministers to declare one-off special trading hours for pubs or clubs screening major sport or cultural events.
Tuesday's changes include introducing a nationally applied, risk-based framework for assessing special licence applications to ensure consistent decision-making throughout the country.
District Licensing Committees (DLCs) will be required to apply this framework, with the details - including risk ratings and conditions - set in regulations to allow for flexibility and regular updates, the minister said.
The government was also setting up a coordinated approach for events that span multiple council areas, requiring DLCs to consult each other within a specified timeframe to ensure consistency and avoid repetitive processes and costly delays for organisers.
The threshold for large-scale events, that require complete event management plans, certificates of compliance and work with police on event management was also being increased from 400 to 2000 people.
McKee said this would reduce costs associated with obtaining a special licence for many events.
As announced last week, the responsible minister would also have the power to declare televised national events exempt from special licensing requirements, removing the need for legislative amendments each time.
McKee said the reforms are designed to reduce unnecessary red tape and give the events sector greater certainty and consistency.
"These are sensible, targeted changes which support the government's creative sector strategy Amplify, which aims to streamline regulation to enable the sector to thrive.
"We know this kind of red tape can lead to events being cancelled, delayed or scaled down."
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